A Tale of Two Wizards

Disclaimer: Not mine! Jo owns both Severus and Lucius... lucky thing!

Lecture on Love

They were glued onto the silken sheets, the sweat making the linen cling onto them both. Both were panting and out of breath. Severus collapsed on top of her and then gently rolled off. He had a look of absolute dazed pleasure on his face, and then he turned to look at Hermione who lay, just as exhausted, next to him. Her breathing was fast, and she felt as if she'd gone on at least three white-knuckle rides at her favourite theme park. The Nemesis had nothing compared to making out with Snape!

Snape got up and bought a couple of pillows down and placed one under her head and then put one down for him and laid his head on it dragging a fallen bed sheet that slunk off and covered them with it. He then placed his arm over her chest, and brought her nearer to him, and she settled in, as they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next thing that Hermione knew were some birds twittering in the sky. She looked around, and a mild panic crept over her. She then turned around and looked at the startling white back of a man. She gulped, as she cautiously got up, and noticed lank black hair, and realised what she had done the night before. She fell back on the bed in horror. WHAT HAD SHE DONE LAST NIGHT? She looked around the room, and saw the fire had dying embers cindering in the grate, and then looked at the thick black and green curtains, and saw the sun was fighting with the permanent night. Snape let out a tiny snore and turned around, Hermione edged a little further away, as she got up.

Whatever I must do I must not panic and rush around like a headless chicken. This can ALL be explained. Harry will still talk to me. Ron will... Ron will what? Never speak to her again that's what. But it was a mistake, she didn't mean to. It just happened, he was just too powerful, too strong to resist. No mustn't say that! She crept around to the wardrobe door, and opened it up, and found a cloak to wrap herself up with. Her favourite dress had been ruined! She'll make him pay for that.

She walked up to him, and looked at his sleeping form, and saw how long his eyelashes were and how serene, and calm he looked. Like a baby! His hair was flopping over his eyes, and went down towards his neck. She resisted the urge to brush it behind his ear, and to stroke his face gently with her hands. She smiled, though, and sighed, but it was wonderful. She shook her head, and collected her wits about her. She had to get out of here - and fast.

She winced with every step, as she remembered he had been quite forceful, and very, very demanding. But no matter how much pain she was in, how her muscles were aching, she had to move, and fast. After all it's the best thing to do, she said. It prevents them from going too solid. You had to move straight away! How comforting it is to think things through logically.

She walked through the bathroom door swearing last night she saw an escape route even if it was a Jacobs Ladder. As Sev... no! As Snape had said last night Malfoy liked everything convenient and neat. And Malfoy would like an escape route in every room possible! She walked along the wall pressing her hands on the wall, feeling like she was in some sort of thriller movie. She located a little knob on the wall, and turned it, and nothing happened although there was a slight movement so it had potential. She turned it another way keeping watch over her shoulder. It didn't budge. She was like this for five minutes.

"Damn you Malfoy!" She hissed, as she whacked it one.

A panel opened! She rolled her eyes. Typical! She crawled through the panel, and landed in a dusty, cold, hallway.

**********

Snape stirred, and flung his arm to where she was. But he found no one there. He panicked. He woke up with a start, and saw that, that half of the bed was empty. Mustn't panic, she's gone to order some coffee, that's it. She'll be back soon, why shouldn't she come back? He gave her the best time she probably ever had, and besides she can't go far, she probably had difficulty walking. She'll be limping back up begging for one more time.

He got up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was just an ordinary clock, and one that did actually tell the time rather than the whereabouts, although, the whereabouts would have been more useful. He was getting worried when five minutes wound forward yet no Hermione. Impossible! He flung aside his covers, and decided to investigate, if that little kitten thinks she can run out on this tomcat she had another think coming! He opened the wardrobe door, and saw one of his cloaks missing. He took another one, and wrapped it around his body, and decided she went through the bathroom area.

If that is the case....

Oh you silly, predictable... lovable? Hmm, lovable? Might be in her own interfering know it all way. Come on, Severus you want her back, so she must be worth SOMETHING to you! He'd made love to her several times, and she responded well each time. So, she can't have hated it! He walked through the bathroom door only to notice the panel slide back into place, and a whip of black cloak escaping into the passageway. If she can think she can outwit me she's got another think coming! He scowled, and decided to block her escape route by going through the route any Slytherin took in situations like this.

The short cut!

He walked out of the bathroom, and bedroom, and walked down the hallway to the stairs. It was the kind of staircases where you got two each side leading down to one sweeping one leading off into different wings of the house. He stood at the top of the stairs leading into the west wing, and waited for her.

**********

Damn, crap, bloody mess this is! Hermione thought as she walked through the passageway feeling both sides for another leading escape route. What was it with Wizards? Why couldn't they have a council house like everybody else and be happy with it? But no, they have to small poky halls, passageways leading to Godric knows where and for what? Why?

She looked ahead as she found another panel, feeling its walls, she felt another knob, and punched it in, and the panel slid open like before, and she tumbled out all dusty, covered in spiders webs, and other such things. She landed in the hallway of the other part of the house. She walked straight down it, and turned the corner, and sighed with relief at the sight of the stairs leading down to the front door. Down, outside, and apparate the hell out of here where she can be back with Harry. She started walking down.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a dark voice said the other side. Her heart plummeted.

"How do you bloody do it?" She asked. "You were like this at Hogwarts."

"As were you, Hermione," he growled. "I'm a Slytherin, the first rule of thumb to be a Slytherin is to know the shortcuts out of any given situation!"

"Which is why you killed Dumbledore!" She exclaimed savagely. "You had your night of fun, you followed your Masters orders more than enough. The least you can do is let me go!"

"Yes, I have followed my Masters orders but weren't Potter’s orders that you learn the Wolfsbane Potion for your dear favourite, Lupin?" He sneered.

"You haven't exactly showed me the cauldron let alone flashed the ingredients, so, why should I stay?"

She put her foot on the top step.

"Hermione, please, don't do it!" He exclaimed reaching his hand out to her. "Go back the way you came, and I'll get us a cup of coffee. I promise to begin teaching you today, but don't walk down those stairs they're dangerous!"

"I'm leaving!" She said sniffily. "They look fine to me!"

She walked down to the fourth step, when suddenly it lurched up, and made her lose her balance, and she toppled head first down the stairs. Her body lay crumpled on the middle. Snape's heart froze in that instant. He couldn't believe it, he told her not to, and yet when it was absolutely vital for her to listen to him, and she didn't! Abraxus Malfoy had bewitched that step in his youth when a boy had made fun of him. No one’s wanted to take the hex out of it yet. It was on Snape's to do list.

He immediately ran down the stairs his cloak flying behind him, and he leaned down towards her protectively. He gently rolled her on her back, and noticed bruises, and scratches. Her lip was cut, and blood was trickling down it. He pressed her body, which elicited a few moans. She fluttered her eyelashes, and opened them.

She tried to get up, but her ankle twisted underneath her, and she screamed in pain.

"You're not going anywhere!" Snape hissed. He picked her up lovingly, and gently carried her back to the bedroom.

He laid her gently on the bed, and assessed the damage, and did all sorts of tests before he could think of what would be best.

"I am going..." she tried to say determined.

"You have cracked a few ribs, and broken your leg in two places. I am no Madam Pomfrey, and therefore my healing abilities, though good, are NOT as good as hers. You also might be slightly concussed that was a nasty fall. I'm sorry, Hermione, but it looks like your kind of stuck with me!"

He gently twisted her ankle again, which made her wince extremely badly.

"How long for?" she asked.

"Long enough for us to build up our relationship," he whispered smoothly.

"What relationship? that was a one night stand!"

He yanked her foot slightly harder at that comment.

"If there is something I don't do," he said dangerously. "It’s one night stands!"

********

Hermione was left on her own. She had absolutely nothing to do, and she was completely bored staying here in this dark bedroom, but he was not as nasty as she expected him to be, apart from that extremely cruel twist of the ankle when she said that it was a one-night stand and nothing more. She thought he was joking when he said he wanted her here with him, that afterwards he'd realise who she was, and decide to chuck her out of the door and tell her never to look in his face again.

She reflected on the events of the past hour or so and smiled. He did actually have a caring touch. He took one look at her wearing one of his cloaks and then he gently took it off her. She half expected him to start kissing her again, but he didn't. He brushed his hand accidentally on her breast, and it made her catch her breath.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Didn't mean to."

She was about to reply that she didn't mind, but he walked away, and walked to another wardrobe.

"Whose is that?" Hermione asked.

"They were Cissy's," Snape said. "But as she won't be needing them where she is then I suppose it is all right for you to wear them. It would be a shame to see such finery go to waste."

He picked out a dark purple silk negligee set, and found a pair of matching underwear. Narcissa liked everything to match, he mused. Even her husband was a match! They were both arrogant, blonde haired bimbos. He strode over to her, and then gently dragged Hermione in a sitting position.

"I think I can manage to get dressed myself," Hermione said. Snape didn't bother to look up, but he could hear the blush in her voice. He put one leg in one side, and the other in the other side, and then he looked up.

"Place your hands on my shoulders," he said. She did. He had to control himself she was not in any position to have that done to her again, even though her light, sensitive touch was driving him wild. She got up unsteadily, and with both arms around her legs he pulled the knickers up to her waist, and secured them there. She sat down the pain clearly visible in her eyes.

"Hmm," she mused.

"What?"

"Who'd have thought that Narcissa Malfoy is the same size as me, and she's had a child, that doesn't hold out much hope for me!"

Snape smiled. The smile reached his eyes, and it made him look extra handsome and dreamy. NO! Hermione shook her head. You are NOT in love with him. All you had was sex. That was it! Sex! But it didn't feel like sex, it felt MUCH more than that!

"I prefer women to have something rather than nothing," he murmured. "It makes making love much more fun the more there is!"

Hermione blushed, and her mouth again went dry. Oh Merlin! Kiss me please? I just want one kiss after that comment please? She wanted to ask him out loud for this. He picked up the nightdress. He put it through his arms, and asked her to raise hers up.

"Almost done," he said as he pulled it down. Who would have thought, he mused. That dressing a woman could be as much fun, and a bit more of a turn on than taking clothes off? The lacy negligee was next; she had to get up again whilst he put the gown on. He tied it up at the top and looked at her.

"So now what? Are you going help me downstairs and start the potion?"

He rolled his eyes, as he saw her wince again with pain of moving.

"The only one potion making around here is going to be me, Hermione, as I am fit enough, and healthy enough to do so!"

"I can do it. I just need to lean on something like a table, and take a rest every few minutes, but I am well enough to chop up a few vegetables!"

"If you listened to me in the first place, then maybe I would agree, but you stubbornly refused to do so therefore you got hurt, therefore you cannot learn any potions let alone make one!"

"Well, then at least let me look at the ingredients or write them down for me so I can study it up here whilst I am crippled."

"Also, as I said you might be slightly concussed. You had a rather vigorous night last night, and you need to sleep. I'll tuck you up in bed, and leave you alone. I'll send Hiccup in an hour or so's time to bring you a cup of coffee and some light breakfast. I don't want you being sick. So, we'll start slowly and work from there."

Hermione looked at him, if daggers could come out of her eyes, they probably would.

"I can manage..." she began through clenched teeth.

"At the moment you can barely manage to walk, Hermione, let alone anything else."

Instead of arguing the matter he walked up to Hermione, and again supported her, as he opened the bed sheets he lowered her onto the sheets, and put her legs up, and placed a pillow under the ankles.

"I still say we haven't got a relationship," she said. "All we had was sex!"

"No, Hermione, we made love," he said.

"I see no difference," she said scathingly. He winced. He remembered that day. But he was in front of Draco Malfoy what else was he supposed to say?

"The difference's are clear," he said. "Sex is lust and passion combined in an erratic and irresponsible way, and most of the time it's not even premeditated or planned. Making love is much more than that. Making love can be done with just a look or a touch. I made love to you right from when we made direct eye contact. It’s subtle and shimmering. It's something that simmers beneath and seeps into your very marrow. Making love encompasses all the body and it starts, as I said straight away. Sex is a quickie behind the stables. Sex is what you have with Weasley where it's over in five minutes, and then off for a sandwich!"

Hermione started to breath, without even realising until he had finished, that she had been holding her breath. He kept looking at her all the time, as he was talking in that way. She looked down feeling uncomfortable, and awkward now. So what had she been doing when she looked at him in her fifth year then? According to him she was making love to him? She coughed and then looked back up.

"You talk about making love as if you were making a potion," she whispered.

"It is fairly similar yes," he said. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Then he got up after he tucked her in and walked out of the door, Hermione despite herself went to sleep.

*************************

"Miss," a rather subdued voice said in her ear. "Miss, Hiccup has brought Miss coffee and toast like Master said Hiccup should. Hiccup did not want to disobey."

Hermione shifted and fluttered her eyelashes open. And immediately squinted them shut again. The curtains were as well. She saw Winky aka Hiccup and tried to get up, and winced with every single movement.

Hiccup helped her.

"Thank you, Winky," Hermione said.

"Name not, Winky, name, Hiccup!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, Hiccup," Hermione said sipping at her coffee, and nibbling at her toast. She finished that in about ten minutes, and looked at Hiccup.

"Hiccup wonders if Miss would like anything else," the elf said.

"I would like a book to read please."

"Master has forbidden Miss to read. Master had already anticipated that Miss would like Book and he said, 'Hiccup,' he said. 'On no account are you to give Miss Granger any books to read she needs to give her mind a break, as it could be damaged I have not yet managed to get that far, but until I do, on no account are you to give Miss Granger any books!' he was quite adamant about it Miss!"

"I don't want anything too intelligent just see if they have Wind in the Willows that's a fairly easy book to read it even has pictures."

"No Books. Hiccup follows what Master said."

Master is a right pain in the nuts! Hermione fumed.

"All right I would like a banana then," she sighed.

"Hiccup is allowed to give Miss Granger food!"

*************

Hermione sulked back into the cushions after that. She crossed her arms against her chest and scowled. She couldn't believe it. What else was she supposed to do in this place? Twiddling her thumbs? It was boring enough as it was. She didn't even have her wand as; she assumed he had that under his care to make sure she doesn't accio any books, or anything else for that matter.

He opened the door.

"How are we feeling?" He asked in an odd merry way.

At least someone is enjoying themselves, she thought venomously. Giving out orders like the arrogant prat he's always been.

"Fine!" She spat.

"Obviously NOT fine!"

"Look sir," she said sarcastically. "I can manage to hold a book and read, all I want is a simple book to read, something like Wind in the Willows or The Chronicles of Narnia. Just please let me read something!"

"No," he stated firmly. "I will NOT let you read anything."

He set something down by the bed.

"What is that?" She asked.

"This is a lotion to rub in the areas where it hurts you the most, I am going to have to undress you, and rub this on, and wind you up in bandages, there might also be some wrapped around your head for a while."

He picked her head up, and held her cheeks with his hands, and looked deep into her eyes, and probing her mind to find any spots or blankness there. He sighed.

"Just very slightly concussed you have a bruising to the side behind your left ear there, and it's swelling, nothing too bad, but enough to probably scar you for life."

"Harry and I will be a pair well matched then," she said.

He undressed her, and then set to work rubbing her with the lotion he had just made, and used his wand to wrap her body and legs with bandages. She felt like she was going to be buried alive in some bizarre ancient Egyptian ceremony.

"Right, let that stay there for a day, and I'll check again tomorrow," he said. Picking up his cauldron.

"So, now what? Can I read?" She asked.

"Gods your persistent aren't you."

"Not half as persistent as you were last night, sir!"

He was about to reply scathingly in return but his mouth twisted and then he actually laughed. It was a proper laugh coming from deep within his chest.

"Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably," he said enigmatically before he walked out of the door.

"AM I ALLOWED TO READ OR NOT!" She yelled.

After waiting for what seemed like forever for a reply and getting absolutely fed up she was about to turn on her side and go to sleep when a book suddenly popped up into her lap.

It was The Wind in the Willows. She opened the cover and there was a note and she opened it.

'Dearest Hermione

You were fantastic last night the best I have ever had and I thoroughly enjoy our little spats. Please accept this present from me as a token of my gratitude and I will try and get you better so that you can learn the potion you came here to learn in the first place.

Severus.'

Hermione smiled a warm kind smile. If truth were told she actually enjoyed their little spats as well.


Pinkwands: Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. Those are my particulare Severus fantasies...

Donavan: All will be made clear in a few chapters, bear with me!

A/N This has plot... sorry.